October heat breaks records in Atlantic City and Millville
Summer returned to South Jersey Wednesday, Oct. 14, as Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township and Millville Airport both reached a record 85°F.
ACY Airport beat its previous daily record of 83°F from 1990. Millville topped its old record of 84°F, set in 1975.
ACY airport finished 17°F above normal and just shy of some notable late-season highs. The airport reached 86°F on Oct. 15, 1985, and Oct. 19, 2016. Wednesday came within one degree of those marks.
Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index forecast rated the region’s daytime heat as either a two of a three. That means human-caused climate change made that level of warmth at least that many times more likely. The score measures how warming changes the odds of local temperatures for that time of year.
Know More: The science behind Wednesday’s warmth
Wednesday’s warmth developed through warm-air advection: winds transporting warmer air into the region. Low pressure moving along a frontal boundary north of New Jersey helped draw warm, humid air northward ahead of a cold front. New Jersey occupied the system’s warm sector, where an unusually warm air mass supported summerlike temperatures.
Southwest winds shifted westerly during the day. That setup favors less cooling from the ocean along the Atlantic coast. Sunshine also heated the ground, which transferred energy into the lowest atmosphere. These processes helped temperatures climb despite October’s lower sun angle.
Dew points in the 60s added a humid feel. After the front passed, northerly winds brought cooler, drier air into the region Thursday, ending this round of warmth.
By the weekend, the heat will be a memory. High temperatures will be in the 50s both Saturday and Sunday. The first frost for much of inland NJ threatens Sunday morning, too.
